The people at Arrowhead Provincial Park near Huntsville, Ontario did. In fact, opened in 2018 is the new Visitor’s Centre, with floor-to-ceiling fireplace and inside the ‘warm up’ area, designed to efficiently rent skates, cross-country skis (skate or classic style) and snowshoes to thousands heading north from Toronto to enjoy some Great White scenery and snow sports.

To answer your next question: yes, all Ontario provincial parks are dog-friendly(leashed) and Arrowhead does one further … skijoring with the dog. But more on that soon.

First, at Arrowhead you can run your pup along any of the 15 km of winter hiking trails including the easy 1 km walk from the Visitor’s Centre parking lot to Big Bend Lookout, a panoramic view of the circular Big East River oxbow and sand deposit reshaping the river each year. In the last 15 years, the wooden viewing platform has been moved back three times.

Can you stay overnight with the dog?

Sadly no, one thing you can’t do in the winter with the dog at Arrowhead is stay overnight, which is a shame because the park has several ‘roofed accommodations’ opened during the winter months. So rustic and cozy, it’s easy to picture your fur baby curled up next you beside the wood burning stove under a classic Hudson’s Bay blanket.

Each hut has log cabin-style bunk beds, kitchenettes, a firepit in the yard and heated showers… a short walk away. There’s no bathroom in the cabin, but every dog owner knows, relief walks are all part of fun Fido travelling. Sadly, it’s not to be.

“We’re working on it,” park staff have told me several times. “We’ve had a lot of request for dog-friendly accommodations and we’re working on a way to make that viable for all.”

In the meantime, two pet-friendly motels (with bathrooms) are located just outside the park boundaries – the economical Arrowhead Inn with some kitchenette rooms and The Tulip Inn with private trails. Of course, 7km away is the pets-stay-free Motel 6 in Huntsville (affiliate link) that’s a great deal for access to an indoor pool.

Also, relatively new at Arrowhead is a designated winter skijoring trail.

What is dog skijoring?

Dog skijoring is a mash-up between horse skijoring (a horse pulls a skier) and dog sledding. So, visualize a person on cross-country skis (usually skater but classic will do) propelling themselves forward with polls along the winter trail with a harnessed dog or two attached to a rope around his/her waist.

That’s right, the dog adds additional momentum by pulling – there’s no control reins so the dogs must want to run and, hopefully, respond to a few basic sledding commands. (Yes, there’s a quick release on the rope).

Can you do skijor with your own dog?

Yes. But there’s some conditions: your dog needs to be fully grown, at least 30 pounds and obviously in good shape. Any breed can try it, but no surprise Husky types are usually best at it. Also, you need to sign up for a training session led by local sports clinicians Lowell Greib and Katherine Ahokas of Huntsville’s The SportLab. They will loan (or sell) you a dog harness … and even supply a dog if pre-requested.

Arrowhead Dog Skijoring Sessions are 45-minutes long on the following dates:

January 20,

February 3

and March 3, 2019, 1 to 4 pm.

Purchase a park pass, rent skis if necessary, and meet at the Arrowhead Provincial Park Birches Parking lot under The Sportslab banner.

And don’t worry. Pet dogs aren’t trained ‘mushers’ and don’t tend to run at high speeds through the trails (if at all). But if you do have a crazy pup who leash pulls (like mine did when he was younger), skijoring might be his jam. If not, you can always say you did.

Even better, dog skijoring is included in the price of a park and ski pass.

Ahh, how fun! I have wanted to skijor with my hound for years. She loves bikejoring and I know she would love this too. We even stayed in a place that lets you do it one winter but there was no snow 😦 It’s on my bucket list. I know it would be on Boomer’s too if she had one.

Hmm I’ve never heard of dog skijoring before! This is new to me. I think the closest thing I’ve seen is dog sledding on TV on one of those Alaskan shows. This looks like it’s fun for both parties involved. Thanks for sharing!

I have never heard of Skijoring before, looks so much fun. Now if only mine would be so athletic and participate in one too:-) Honestly, traveling with your pups is the best thing to do and I am so glad that you had a fun time.

This place sounds like magic and I had never heard about it being for dogs although Layla is too small to be able to. I would love to go to a getaway like this and just chill, relax and enjoy the natural beauty

What adorable cabins! Too bad they aren’t pet friendly – glad you can tack a Yet on the end of that. I like it when people listen to their customers don’t you? The park is lovely. The whole idea of skiing attached to any animal is quite terrifying to me but skiing itself is scary (I’ve done it twice and that was plenty.) still I know a few dogs that would probably just love it.

I have an Alaskan Klee Kai that I think would love something like this, but he’s just so small. I guess it works out because, to be honest, I’ve never gone skiing and don’t think I’d trust myself to do a good job at actually staying on the skis haha. I guess we’ll have to settle for just playing/running in the snow together. It looks beautiful there though! I love camping and spending time outdoors in the cold weather.

I never heard of dog skijoring before. What a fun activity for dogs that like to run and don’t mind the cold. It looks like a lovely place to visit and hopefully they will make it so you can stay with your dogs overnight soon.

Seems like such a beautiful place. I’ve been in that area but it’s been more years than I care to remember. Sounds like a fun activity, not one I’ve ever heard of but it’s a shame there is no pet friendly accommodation in the park itself, but at least you can stay in the area. It seems too beautiful to only spend the day.